Sector competencies in Leipzig

In order to unleash its full economic potential, the City of Leipzig has developed a cluster strategy to concentrate on establishing networks between, and supporting, growth-oriented and forward-looking industries.

This includes the following industries:

Health and biotechnology

Automotive and supplier industry

Energy and environmental technology

Logistics

Media and creative industries

These economic and scientific areas of expertise also play a crucial role for local conferences and events, with officials deliberately inviting organisers to hold their thematically related congresses in Leipzig.

With its clearly defined clusters, Leipzig is a highly recommended as destination for international congressses. local venues and stakeholders have shown themselves to be experienced and efficient hosts. Venues are represented by competent experts who are instrumental in their successful promotion. In turn, successful events hone Leipzig’s profile as a hub for business, science and research, adding to its national and international reputation.

Automotive and supplier industry

The automotive and supplier industry with its Porsche and BMW factories is one of the most important in the region. At the same time, more and more suppliers are benefiting from the rapid development of the industry.

Porsche's dynamic development began in 1999 when it decided to build its factory for the Cayenne model here. At the beginning of the new century, Leipzig established itself as the location for the new BMW plant in a demanding pan-European selection process. Porsche and BMW, as premium manufacturers with excellent reputations, enhance Leipzig's standing as a production location on the international market.

More and more suppliers are moving into the vicinity of the gradually expanding factory complexes. The number of companies in the Leipzig economic region has now risen to 170.

With the participation of research institutes, industry networks are assuming an increasingly important supporting function for the sustainable development of research and development cooperation.

Health and biotechnology

The Leipzig region offers a broad spectrum of high-performance medicine, research, regenerative medicine and red biotechnology. Numerous institutes, clinics and companies form active networks to promote research and development projects and make their results available to the public.

The University of Leipzig, the University Hospital, the Heart Center and the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology are representative of the numerous scientific institutes, clinics and companies that characterise the health industry and biotechnology sector with around 30,000 employees and 6,000 trainees, students and interns.

The many trade fairs and congresses in the field of medicine underline the importance of the Leipzig region as a healthcare center.

Important institutions in Leipzig:

BIO CITY LEIPZIG

Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology IZI

Leipzig Heart Center

Leipzig University Hospital with 27 clinics and polyclinics as well as the eight institutes

Medical faculty of the University of Leipzig

St. Georg Municipal Hospital

Logistics and services

In recent years, the Leipzig region has become one of the top logistics locations in Germany and is characterised by the highest level of dynamism among its competitors. In a nationwide comparison, the existing combination of location factors relevant to logistics is above average - as is the bandwidth of existing logistics settlements. The establishment of well-known companies such as DHL, Amazon, BMW and Porsche boosted the development of the logistics industry, which is firmly established among the first-class economic factors in the region. The high demands on a European gateway, an import location and a central distribution location are equally fulfilled here.

It is realistic to expect the Leipzig region to quickly move into Europe's top logistics league.

Energy and environmental technology

The Leipzig region has gained excellent, globally usable experience in the closely interlinked fields of energy and environmental technology. The spectrum of companies and scientific institutions based here ranges from internationally renowned businesses such as Verbundnetz Gas AG (VNG) and European Energy Exchange AG (EEX), the only exchange trading centre for electricity, gas and CO² contracts in Germany, to the Deutsche Biomasseforschungszentrum gGmbH and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH, to numerous innovative medium-sized companies that are pioneers in important areas of environmentally relevant process engineering.

They all meet the current challenges of the energy transition head-on with their expertise.

Media and creative industries

Leipzig is a traditional media location which has gained worldwide fame and a strong international reputation in the past through a combination of publishing work and printing machinery. The Book Fair and "Leipzig liest" have always supported the activities of this key industry.

Following the technological upheavals of the last 20 years, numerous new mediums have been added to print publishing. All parties involved accepted this challenge and integrated new mediums into modern courses of study at the relevant educational institutions, including the University of Leipzig, the University of Applied Sciences, the University of Telecommunications and the Academy of Visual Arts.

In today's digital world, media and creative industries are forging a productive alliance in Leipzig following successful structural change. The wide range of services and flexibility of the numerous companies, most of which are in a growth phase, speak in favour of the location.

One of the hallmarks of information and communication technology, which generates the highest sales, is networking with other sectors of the economy. Creative ideas and ready-to-use innovations are the key - whether in logistics, health or environmental protection.